Melissa Beatriz

BY  GABRIELA WATSON-BURKETT, MELISSA BEATRIZ AND KRISTAL SOTOMAYOR ON AUGUST 18, 2023

¡Presente! Media is celebrating 3 years of producing media for social justice. In the last 3 years we have dedicated ourselves to community-centered journalism, celebrating Latine culture, and telling stories from the perspective of Black and Brown voices.

BY MELISSA BEATRIZ  ON JUNE 10, 2021

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact communities in the United States, in early March 2020, it became clear that the arts sector was being gravely economically affected. This is a timeline of what the arts had to face during the pandemic, from budget cuts, closed offices, emerging media, canceled grants to a refunding budget allocation.

BY GABRIELA WATSON-BURKETT, MELISSA BEATRIZ AND LAURA ANAYA-MORGA ON FEBRUARY 9, 2021

In this interview, Philly-based multidisciplinary artist and performer Daniel de Jesús shares their inspiration behind making art and its importance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daniel de Jesús, intérprete y artista multidisciplinario de Filadelfia, habla acerca de qué les inspira a producir arte y su importancia durante la pandemia del COVID-19.

BY MELISSA BEATRIZ ON NOVEMBER 25, 2020

This year, the Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and Symposium (DX) was held virtually from Oct. 14 to 18. DX is the first and sole film festival in the United States that focuses its programming on the intersection of film and investigative reporting.

POR MELISSA BEATRIZ EL 11 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2020

Mientras la pandemia del COVID-19 comenzó a impactar en Estados Unidos a principios de marzo de este año, Filadelfia no fue la excepción. Alrededor del 13% de la población de Filadelfia está compuesta por inmigrantes, y aproximadamente 25% de los extranjeros entre ellos son indocumentados.

BY MELISSA BEATRIZ ON OCTOBER 27, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic started to impact the United States in early March of this year, Philadelphia was no exception. The city is known as a “sanctuary city,” or more officially as a “welcoming city,” which the Office of Immigrant Affairs says means that City employees, including police officers, cannot ask individuals about their documentation status.

BY MELISSA BEATRIZ & FARRAH RAHAMAN ON SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

The Shut Down Berks Coalition held an action in response to Judge Gee’s ruling that children be released from immigrant detention centers by July 17th, 2020.

BY GABRIELA WATSON-BURKETT AND MELISSA BEATRIZ ON JULY 27, 2020

On June 13, Philadelphia-based immigrant justice groups, Juntos and New Sanctuary Movement, formed 'Marcha en Solidaridad con las Vidas Negras,' to join the protests against systemic racism. They marched in solidarity with other grassroots groups that organized 'Defund the Police: The Whole System is Guilty!,' a protest to demand that the City revise its proposed budget by investing in community-based services and defunding the police department.

BY MELISSA BEATRIZ ON JUNE 20, 2020

El 16 de junio, la Coalición de Artistas para una Filadelfia Justa, organizó la Acción de Arte de Emergencia para financiar los Futuros de Afro Descendientes en los escalones del Museo de Arte de Filadelfia. El objetivo de la acción era para "utilizar el poder de la expresión artística en forma de música, danza y artes visuales para exigir un presupuesto de la ciudad que financie los futuros Afro Descendientes, desfinancie la policía, y salvar el Fondo Cultural de Filadelfia.”

BY MELISSA BEATRIZ ON JUNE 20, 2020

On June 16, the Artist Coalition for a Just Philadelphia hosted the Emergency Art Action to Fund Black Futures! on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The action’s goal was to “use the power of artistic expression in the form of music, dance and visual art to demand a city budget that funds black futures by Defunding the Police and Saving the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.”

BY MELISSA BEATRIZ ON MARCH 23, 2020 | PUBLISHER: WHYY

I’m a Uruguayan-American documentary filmmaker whose current production has been suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak. As a freelancer, this health crisis has jeopardized my ability to work on creative projects. And the same is true for my husband, a musician and teaching artist whose work has been cancelled for the foreseeable future.

DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY GABRIELA WATSON-BURKETT

CREATIVE PRODUCED BY MELISSA BEATRIZ

Baobab Flowers (Documentary, 40 min, Brazil/USA) is a personal documentary that blends poetic and observational footage following the journey of two high school teachers: Storm Foreman (Nyanza Bandele) in Philadelphia, United States, and Priscila Dias in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Director, Gabriela Watson-Burkett, immerses herself in a journey to make the connections between communities of the African Diaspora.